Note: More pictures will come in due time. I’m posting some of the snapshots here to help tell the story but will be adding a new album to my photo section soon with some of the hundreds of pictures we have from the trip. If you didn’t start reading on Day 1, you might want to start from the beginning…
The day started rough and ended spectacular. No…I didn’t sleep through the night. I would have though, but Curtis threw up a couple times and then couldn’t sleep himself. Poor kid. We think it was something in the hamburger I got him.
We still got up early and even though he was feeling sick, he wanted to get out and take the same loop we’d been on last night. But only 20 minutes in to it, he threw up again (out the door) and then got a bloody nose. He pinched it but we didn’t have anything to clean him off with…so he had blood all over his face and felt horribly nauseous. We finished out the loop (saw the same lions from last night, hyena, jackal, and a herd of a hundreds of buffalo), but poor Curti didn’t really care. He’d take a look and fall back to his seat and hold his head. At the lions I asked a guy in another car if he had a tissue for Curtis…he did and we got him cleaned up a little.
I drove back to Satara and went in the shop and bought an elixir to help an upset stomach. I mixed it, Curtis drank it, and we headed back down the road. He was feeling better within an hour, thank goodness. We headed out of the park, watching for animals along the way. Didn’t see much, but we did stop and watch some baboons on the side of the road. There was a tiny one with them that hadn’t really learned to walk yet and the adults kept picking it up to keep it from our view. After we sat there a while, the loosened up and let him play while we watched them groom each other. One of them sat still while the others picked out the bugs and ate them. It was cool how it would move and adjust so they could get a better angle. It reminded me of when I was little and I’d have to sit still in the chair for 45 minutes while my mom cut my hair.
Note: More pictures will come in due time. I’m posting some of the snapshots here to help tell the story but will be adding a new album to my photo section soon with some of the hundreds of pictures we have from the trip. If you didn’t start reading on Day 1, you might want to start from the beginning…
If it wasn’t for the wind, I might have finally slept through the night. In the middle of the night, while I was trying to get to sleep, Curti said "the cheetah wants to eat me!" I said, Curti, it’s okay….you are having a bad dream. He answered (in his normal voice, clear as day) "I’m not asleep dad, I’m fine. And the cheetah…I mean the leopard wants to eat me." I asked what leopard and he said, "the one by the gate. He told me he was going to eat me when we came in." What do you say to that? I told him I wouldn’t let it and he went back to sleep. In the morning he remembered talking to me and laughed about it. He can’t really remember why he said that.
Today started out really slow. We got up at the crack (5:00) and out on the road early. But rather than the early morning light I expected, it was overcast and windy…a huge letdown. I kicked myself for sleeping in on the perfect morning and figured I’d just have to get pictures of animals in the wind if that’s how mother nature was going to treat us…
We drove all day…from 6 to 6 today. 12 hard hours of searching and hunting. We took a dirt road along a river bed and saw a huge group of baboons that walked right past us, that was pretty cool. There were lots of babies hitching a free ride by hanging on underneath their mothers. What looked to be a group of about 20 teenagers all ran up the tree next to us and were swinging on the branches, playing tag, and looking down at us. Then the elders passed through, walking slow and looking tired.
Note: More pictures will come in due time. I’m posting some of the snapshots here to help tell the story but will be adding a new album to my photo section soon with some of the hundreds of pictures we have from the trip. If you didn’t start reading on Day 1, you might want to start from the beginning…
We went spotlighting last night, which was pretty cool. Saw a porcupine, bush babies, bush buck, duikers, kudu, several civits, and even an ardvaark (very rare to see in Kruger). We also heard an elephant trumpet but couldn’t see it in the darkness.
We got a late start this morning, slept in….argh! I didn’t make it through the night again, woke up at 2 and laid awake ready to go until about 4:30, then I crashed hard. At 7:30 I heard noises outside and it felt like the middle of the night. Somehow I rolled out of bed and Curtis seemed to be in the same mode. He did not want to wake up either. Dang 9 hour time difference! Maybe tonight I’ll make it until 4am.
Note: More pictures will come in due time. I’m posting some of the snapshots here to help tell the story but will be adding a new album to my photo section soon with some of the hundreds of pictures we have from the trip. If you didn’t start reading on Day 1, you might want to start from the beginning…
Yesterday when I asked Curtis if Africa was anything like he imagined, he said no way. The traffic in Joberg was as bad as anything I’ve seen in Seattle, the cities packed with people, and buildings lined up one after another for miles…er…kilometers on end. Today when I asked him if Africa was anything like he’d imagined it, he got a big grin. It was.
The day started stressful though. The host of our Bed and Breakfast turned me completely against our junker of a rental car, which wasn’t hard, when he told me that if I was seen driving that around with our luggage packed to the ceiling (small hatchback), we would get robbed. They’d run out at a street light, hit the window with a spark plug, grab a bag, and run. His description of the spark plug really made it visual, he even explained how they break off the conductor on the bottom so it will shatter the window. Or…a buddy would be hiding in the bushes and shoot it out with a pellet gun. Well, Curtis and I already hated the car, so we took it in for an exchange. At first they looked at my existing contract and said my bill was twice what I had reserved. I felt sick. Then they wanted 5X that amount for an upgrade…my heart fell to the floor.
In the end, after explaining and negotiating, I got the upgrade for R16 more a day. After the exchange rate, that is less that $2. So for about $30 for the whole trip we went from a scary tin can that stalled at lights to an almost new mid sized sedan. Very nice! We couldn’t stop talking about how glad it had worked out until past Pretoria (which because of the traffic was a couple hours). Now all our luggage fits in the trunk…unseen. Whew!
How does Curti sleep so easily? He zonked right out on the 15 hour flight from DC to Jo-berg, and he’s been sawing logs all night long while I toss, wander the small room, and snack on cheese. I’m glad he can sleep, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve been awake since midnight and it’s now 4am. Hopefully by tomorrow night I’ll get myself on a sleeping schedule that matches the sunlight here in South Africa.
We took a redeye from Seattle to DC thinking we’d have a day in the capital, but it didn’t work out so well. We did go to the Natural History Museum but we were both so tired it was hard to really enjoy it. We ended up sleeping in our rental car on the side of the road for a couple hours. But we would have been better to just get a good nights sleep. Curti loved our rental car, being the frugal guy I am I had opted for the cheapest and we got a free upgrade.
The flight to Jo-berg was better. We watched "Leatherheads," ate a decent dinner, and then both slept good. Again, Curtis zoked right out and it took me an hour or so to join him but then I slept a solid 9 hours, it was aweseome. Woke up with only two hours to go…and then it went fast.
I first saw this last year. I don’t care how stressed, forlorn, or down I might be…every time I watch it my body is drained of tension. It puts the world right for me. Sometimes, the good guys do win and crazy dreams do come true.
It’s strange that a year later the same type of thing happened on “America’s Got Talent” with Neal Boyd (a similar story and performance). I also think it’s kind of lame that Amanda referred to Paul Potts as a lump of coal about to become a diamond…and a frog ready to turn into a prince. Quite an arrogant/judgemental thing to say to another person. But regardless, this clip is powerful.
Its been a while since I posted. Between moving into the new house, cleaning the old house, and making final plans for my trip to South Africa I haven’t done much else. Our departure date is now a mere week away. It still seems a little unreal. Since the day we bought our tickets and made our reservations at the parks, nearly six months ago, it has always felt quite distant. It may not be until we actually lock in our seatbelts on the plane that the reality hits me. Curtis and I hope we’ll be able to post some updates during the trip.
Our first few days will be in Kruger National Park general campsites (Punda Maria, Mopani, and Satara). As part of our stay, I have scheduled night drives and, hopefully, a bush braai (this reservation has been tricky). Then we have two nights in the Gomo Gomo private game reserve where I hope to get some excellent shots of Leopards, my favorite animal, from the open land rovers.
After five days of a relaxed African bush experience, we’ll leave modern conveniences and join four others and follow two professional trackers on a 3 day, 50 mile hike through lion country on the Sweni wilderness trail. I expect this will be an amazing experience and plan on capturing plenty of photo and video footage of the process. Others on this trek have been charged by Lions, threatened by elephants, and encountered snakes, bugs, heat, and exhaustion. Sounds awesome!
Three months ago, we started looking for a new home. Two months ago, we made an offer that was accepted by the buyers. Today we are still waiting for their bank to approve the loan so we can schedule a closing date.
The previous home owners are selling the home for less than they owe (a short sale). It avoids the hassle and expense of a foreclosure and because the housing market has tanked, there are a lot out there. We could have closed within three days, our loan was ready to go, yet it has been over two months and we are still waiting. Why?
When you make an offer on a short sale, the owner has to approve it, then it goes to their bank for approval, then it goes to the banks bank (Fannie Mae). Don’t expect to hear much during this process which can take months. To me, it doesn’t make sense. You’d think the banks would be eager to move property once they have a willing buyer…but we’ve all recently seen the destructive effects of bank management so I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
If the house you find has the words “subject to short sale approval,” buckle down for a long wild ride. First, make sure it’s a great deal. You need to realize a benefit for the patience, unsurity, and turmoil you are going to endure. Don’t expect to get closing costs. In our case, we asked for them and they rejected it half-way through without giving us a chance to modify the contract unless we started the whole process again. I’d suggest you just offer the price you want and make the contract simple.
We live in a nice neighborhood in Marysville, Wa. There are lots of families, kids play soccer, and the last place you’d expect to see gang related activities. You’d never suspect it, unless you live here and are familiar with the house across the street and two doors down.
Apparently, years ago a woman moved in with several boys that grew up to be quite rough. The rumor is that they were part of a racing team or something and the loud cars and speeding up and down our street supported it. Over the past two years there have been several late night incidents involving yelling and cussing that always bordered a fight. We’d call the cops (along with the rest of the neighborhood) and sirens would sound and everyone in the street would run away before flashing red and blue lights lit up the street.
Last night it got ugly. Scary ugly. I heard yelling at about 3:30am and went to the window. Then I thought I heard gunshots and shivers ran through my body as I ducked down and looked. I kept hearing one voice yelling “Get in the fucking car…get in the fucking car….we are so fucked….get in the fucking car…” Then another gunshot and scuffles. It was almost right across the street but I couldn’t see most of it because of a large tree.
I don’t try to piss people off. In fact, I’ll hold my tongue more often than not in order to avoid upsetting somebody even when I should say something. But a few years ago I made a comment that really upset my manager. We were talking about my future and his plans for my career. He saw potential and wanted to help me maximize it. The problem was that I didn’t want maximized.
During the course of the conversation, I made the comment that I really only needed $30,000 a year to survive and didn’t care so much about money beyond that. I was more interested in a job that let me spend time with my family than one that promised promotions and big money. Apparently, my comment sparked several debates with the upper managers and they threatened to let me go. Ironically, however, they promoted me and I became one of them.
His argument was that employees who didn’t feel pressured for financial reasons were a weakness. The company lacked the leverage and power to control them in a way that was best for business. Employees can’t say “no” to a request to work the weekend or to attend a week-long conference, right? Well, when they aren’t leveraged they can. Although I said yes most of the time, there were some no’s…because they didn’t have the control. I didn’t feel locked into my job and I knew I’d be fine without it.
